St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-09
FOREIGN GOSSIP.
Chat and Anecdotes Compiled from Our
European Exchanges.

european Exchanges.
The chief locality of the Ceylon pearl
fishery is bank about twenty miles long, ten
or twelve miles from shore, opposite to the vii
lagos of Condatchy and Arippo on the northern
coast. The season of the fishery lasts about
three months, commencing at the beginning OF
February, and is carried on under government
regulations. The boats employed are open,
and vary in size from ten to fifteen tons bur
then. They put out at night, usually at ten
O'Clock, on a signal gun being fired from the
| fort of Arippo, and make for the government
| guard vessel, which is moored on the bank, ana
| serves the double purpose of a guard and a
| membership. The divers are under the dlrec-
| tlOn OF a manager, who is called the adappanar,
and they are chiefly Tamis and Moors from
India For each diver there is provided div
lng-stone, weighing about thirty pounds, which
is fastened to the end of a rope long enough to
reach the bottom, and having loop made for
the mans foot; and in addition to this, large
network basket, in which to place the pearl
oysters as he collects them. These are hung
over the sides of the boat, and the diver, plac-
ing his foot in the loop attached to the stone
hberates the coils of the rope. and with his net
basket rapidly descends to the bottom.
The English Parliament is not the
most ill-mannered of European legislatures.
The Portuguese Chamber of Deputies beats it;
for while norsewhipping has been talked about
at Westminster, fsticuffs have actually been
resorted to at Lisbon, and that in the very tenn
pie of talk itself. Captain Ferreira d'Almeida.
who is at once a deputy and a naval officer,
received an unsatisfactory answer to an inter
pellation he addressed to the minister of ma
r1ne, his official superior. Confiding in his priv
nege OF Parliament to cover his breach of
discipline, Captain d'Almeida thereupOn made
some observations in the style of DR.. Manner
shortly afterward the minister took the officer
aside and demonstrated with him upon his
unbecoming behavior Captain d'Almeida's
reply took shape which cannot be described
In classic diction. 1t was vulgar punch on
the nose He was very deservedly arrested by
order of the cabinet, and confined in ship in
the harbor.
The death of Herr Lersch, the Jack
ketch of Cologne is reported He would
seem, from his obituary, to have been grim
eccentric. For many years past he has kept
his coffin in his bedroom, as some more eminent
have done. But Lersch utilized the coffin as
wardrobe, in which he kept his "Dienst- uni
FORM" suit of black clothes, worn by him
whenever he was called upon to dispatch a
Rhenish criminal out of the world. In his last
Will he charged his executors to take care that |
~~
toner of Cologne and the Rhine provinces he |
did not use the rope or the az. like his col
leagues in other states and provinces of the
German empire He was obliged to finish the
course Of justice with the guillotine after the
old French code, which came into use in the
during the French occupation, and
which has survived the wars of liberation.
A curious law case, which has arisen
out OF the recent earthquake at Diano Marine,
will shortly be decided before an italian court.
Two adjoining houses at Diano Marine belong
ng to two different families were destroyed
~ the earthquake, and the inhabitants were
Ill killed. When the ruins and corpses were
'emoved. the sum of 2OOOOOf. in gold and bank
totes was found among the debris. AS it
vas impossible to ascertain to which house the
money belonged, and as no member Of either
amily was saved to decide the matter, the sur
living relatives have brought their case before
he judges, whose decision is expected in Italy
With much interest.
Probably not very many people on
eeing the death of the Rev. j. P. Knight an
ounced recognized the name as that of the
omposer of what may fairly be called two of
he English national ballads, "She Wore a
Wreath of Roses and Rocked in the Cradle
the Deep